Every step is an adventure: ecological literacy as becoming-with forest through fieldwork play in folk high school education

This study focuses on the role of play and imagination in the fostering of ecological literacy in education. The aim is to explore how playful learning activities in ecological fieldwork in adult education could support ecological literacy and what aspects of ecological literacy might be afforded. Theoretically, the study draws on the work of Donna Haraway, employing her concept of becoming-with, and symstories. The research questions are: (I) What characterises the forest encounters emerging in playful pedagogical activities during fieldwork? (II) What stories of encounters unfold in the participants’ conversations about the playful pedagogical activities afterwards? The study is based on ethnographic fieldwork in a folk high school course on nature connectedness. Twenty students participated in the course which ran part-time over a full year with activities one weekend a month. The data consist of video- and audio recordings during an overnight field trip. During the field trip, various play and awareness activities were intertwined with reflections and practical tasks. The play activities were both physically and emotionally challenging. The results reveal how the inhabitants of the forest become partners with the course participants and the teachers in fieldwork. The play activities included aspect of vulnerability and afforded possibilities for the participants to imagine new worlds.